10th edition of ILTM Asia explores why luxury could be the next big sharing economy market

The 10th edition of ILTM Asia will explore how digital technologies and the sharing economy are revolutionising the behaviour of today’s Asian luxury traveller at the event’s Opening Forum at 17:00 – 18:30 at the Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai on Monday 30 May.

ILTM Asia is the leading luxury travel industry event for the industry to meet with agents representing the highest net worth of individuals from 22 countries across Asia. Alison Gilmore, Portfolio Director for ILTM events comments: “ILTM Asia is an event that has seen the beginnings of thousands of luxury travel adventures for thousands of luxury travelers from across Asia. Always on the cutting edge of the industry, it is right that during this landmark 10th year event, we celebrate 10 years of collaboration with a very special keynote speech on the growing power of the collaborative economy and the sweeping cultural and technological shifts informing Asia’s luxury travel landscape.” The ILTM Asia Opening Forum will feature a dedicated presentation by entrepreneur and writer Rachel Botsman, who defined the theory of ‘collaborative consumption’ in 2010. Rachel will explain why the sharing economy is growing so fast and will cover some of the most revolutionary recent changes in customer behaviour. Currently on secondment from her home in Australia, Rachel is teaching the first-ever M.B.A. course on the collaborative economy at the UK’s Oxford University. Rachel’s writing and research have been central to understanding the major cultural shifts at the heart of the sharing economy (named by TIME magazine as one of the ‘10 Ideas that Will Change the World’). With Chinese luxury travellers known to be much younger than their European and US counterparts, Rupert Hoogewerf - CEO of the renowned Hurun Report Inc, will address ‘Why China’s Gen Y is Driving Global Luxury’ and the serious effects of rapid wealth creation on the luxury market. The Opening Forum will be preceeded by a seminar focusing on the outlook for luxury travel in 2016 and 2017, exploring where Asian travellers are heading, their wish-lists, purchasing behaviour and psychographics around luxury and premium brands when they travel. The seminar will be presented by Amrita Banta of Agility Research and will take place on 15:30 – 16:30 on Monday 30 May in the ballroom at the Portman Ritz-Carlton. Following the ILTM Asia Opening Forum, luxury travel experiences from across the world will meet in one-to-one mutually matched appointments with almost 500 high-end travel agents from 21 countries across Asia, each specialising in creating and planning luxury travel for their high net worth clients. ILTM Asia continues at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre and closes at 5pm on Thursday 2 June.